Christmas meal tradition continues in Carrie Blake Community Park

By Matthew Nash • December 20, 2023 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Butch Zaharias, a captain and division chief with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), checks in on drivers and fellow CERT members in festive garb during the Family Holiday Meal Bag distribution event on Dec. 15 in Carrie Blake Community Park.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Butch Zaharias, a captain and division chief with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), checks in on drivers and fellow CERT members in festive garb during the Family Holiday Meal Bag distribution event on Dec. 15 in Carrie Blake Community Park.

The Family Holiday Meal Bag distribution event on Dec. 15 in Carrie Blake Community Park surpassed November’s tally, organizers said.

Sequim Food Bank along with community partners and volunteers offered boxes of meals for Christmas as a drive-through event on Dec. 15. They provided more than 1,100 boxes of food in November and organizers said they provided 100 more meal bags at December’s event.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, along with volunteers from Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church, the food bank, Sequim Seventh-day Adventist Church, Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club, Sequim Valley Lions Club, Trinity United Methodist Church and others, helped with food packing and distribution.

The Sequim Food Bank is typically open 1-4 p.m. Mondays, and 9 a.m.-noon Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, call 360-683-1205.

The food bank will be closed Christmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25, and New Year’s Day, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.

A free community dinner is available to all community members from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 25, in the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St. There will be turkey, mashed potatoes, pies, and more. Santa Claus will also appear from noon-1 p.m.

Multiple donors make the event possible, including food donated by the food bank and space by the Boys & Girls Club. New toys for all ages can be donated at Sequim Shell Station, 194 W. Washington St.

For more information about the Sequim Food Bank and/or to donate online, visit sequimfoodbank.org; mail to: Sequim Food Bank, P.O. Box 1453, Sequim WA, 98382.

Or, drop off a donation with staff at 144 W. Alder St.

A car wreck in the lineup for the meal distribution event occurred around 1 p.m. on Blake Avenue after a male in his late 60s had a medical episode, according to Clallam County Fire District 3 officials. He was transported for evaluation after a non-life threatening episode to Olympic Medical Center by Olympic Ambulance, fire officials report.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Organizers of the Family Holiday Meal Bag distribution event on Dec. 15 said 1,200 meals were available through the drive-through event for Christmas.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Organizers of the Family Holiday Meal Bag distribution event on Dec. 15 said 1,200 meals were available through the drive-through event for Christmas.